Transport Union
The Transport Union is a sovereign federation first proposed after the conclusion of the Free Navy Conflict. Through its mandate, territory has expanded beyond the Asteroid Belt and the outer Sol system and encompasses all that is not in the gravity wells of the planets themselves. The foundation of the Union raised the Belters from the underclass of the solar system to the de-facto ruling party and created the first real peace between the Belt and the Inner Planets. The Union establishes itself as a greater superpower than the former ones, the United Nations and the MCR, by controlling all inter-system and intra-system trade, as well as other economic and military aspects, such as assuring safety and fairness during interstellar transit throughout the Ring Network. The trade system would re-stabilize Sol's economy and power balance, and also would improve international cooperation between the UN and the MCR. The Union is rooted in the belt of Sol. It grew out of all the stations Earth and Mars colonized on asteroids and moons. It now also includes the growing number of void cities and transfer stations. Unlike the navies of Mars and Earth the Transport Union gives contracts out to armed ships for any mission/assignment they partake in. In some cases independently owned ships are given mandatory security contractsThe Expanse Novel: , Chapter 11 - Bobbie History The formation of the Transport Union was first discussed at a multilateral conference on the Ceres, proposed by . The idea was formalized there and accepted by all parties involved. Michio Pa was voted in as first president of the Union. Thirty years after the bombardment of Earth, once the planet is recovered, the union itself has established stations outside the gravity wells and opens for business through a ceremony where president Drummer presides on TSL-5, transfer station at Lagrange-5. Before this Union was established, the populations in the Belt had been brought together with the Outer Planets Alliance through a shared sense of struggle, oppression, and in many cases rebellion. With the change of conditions brought about because of the ring gates and the treaty which brought about union, the power base of the OPA dissolve and many constituents were absorbed in a new role within the Union. Deft members of the old OPA leadership parlayed their political capital for a position in the Union. During the hunger years ''caused by the devastation of the solar system the union was tasked with establishing and running the trade within the ring network. Earth was devestated by the attacks of the Free Navy and desperatly needed the resources from the colony worlds. The belters were chosen to form and run the union not only because of their experience in low-g enviroments, but also to integrate them into the new order of the solar system by providing economic opportunities. The Union with their monopoly on transportation proved to be immensely successful: Not only were the regular shipments from outer-world Ressources extremely important to stop the starvation of the entire system (a threat that was becoming imminent after the bombardment of earth), but the wealth distributed through this success made the Union very rich and powerful. The construction of void cities, a decade old belter-dream that was blockaded by the inner planets repeatedly in the past, is the most prominent example of this change. While the Transport Union is offically just a union that oversees transport inside the ring-network, in reality the Transport Union is one of the two major political players in the sol-system, bringing them more and more on collision course with the colony worlds who are dependent on trade through the ring network, which use is monopolized by the Transport Union. When the colony of Freehold sent a ship through the Slow Zone without authorisation the Transport Union contracted the ''Rocinante to visit Freehold and inform them that they were being cut off from the Ring network as punishment. Shortly the Rocinante returned to Medina Station an announcement came through the Laconia Ring stating that they would be entering the Slow Zone. The Transport Union formed a small two-ship fleet consisting of the cruiser Tori Byron and the Frigate Rocinante along with the Ring station Railgun emplacements to fend off any aggression. When the Heart of the Tempest entered the slow Zone it destroyed the Tori Byron the Captain of the Rocinante Bobbie Draper ordered the rail guns to fire on the enemy. However, the enemy warship absorbed all projectal hits and fired it's mysterious weapon against Ring Station destroying the railguns. The Rocinante then surrendered and Medina Station was lost to Laconian Marines in boarding pods. With the arrival of Laconia, factions of the old OPA re-emerge and act in ways reminiscent of their heyday. Factions such as Golden Bough and Voltaire as well as Johnson's OPA and Ochoa's OPA.The Expanse Novel: , Chapter 25 After the defeat of the United Nations, Martian Congressional Republic, and Transport Union at the Battle of Point Leuctra the transport union became a Client State of the Laconian Empire with its President Camina Drummer being given scripted speeches by the new rulers to say the official Laconian stance. Under Laconian rule, the Transport Union is reorganized to serve the Laconian Empire and begins operating in the Laconia system. Their headquarters is also moved from Medina Station to the Laconia capital city. Ships/Stations See also * President of the Transport Union Category:Culture Category:Outer planets Category:Transport Union Category:Military Organizations Category:Factions